'We're Jekyll and Hyde' reveals Westmeath boss Tom Cribbin

Frank Roche
– 26 February 2015 03:00 AM

Tom Cribbin

TOM CRIBBIN wants Westmeath to reveal the more ruthless side of their Jekyll and Hyde persona against his native Kildare.

Cribbin inherited a team bereft of self-belief after losing 14 games on the spin - and has since overseen a relative transformation. They won two of their three O'Byrne Cup outings, then opened their Division Two campaign with victory over Laois; but this was followed by a one-point home defeat to Galway.

"To be honest, we are a little bit Jekyll and Hyde. We know this is going to be a huge test," the Westmeath boss predicted ahead of Sunday's Newbridge date with the pointless Lilies.

"In one sense we are putting a bit of pressure on ourselves, because the last couple of times they played Kildare, they got hidings and weren't able to cope with the pace of the Kildare team. But on the other hand, the pressure is off - we have one win.

"We need at least a point from the two games (away to Kildare and Meath), otherwise we are leaving ourselves under an awful lot of pressure for the last three matches, two at home," Cribbin added.

Looking at the bigger Leinster picture, he surmised that Dublin are six to eight points better than their nearest rivals, with Meath and Kildare "ahead of the rest, probably by four. We have to see have we bridged that gap. Are we getting closer? The Galway performance would suggest we are heading in the right direction."